You wanna talk about fish? I can tell you alvot about fish....
I've owned fish since i Was about 8. Started like any other budding aquarist, with a simple goldfish with the classic name "Goldy" Now Goldy was a very large fish, so much that i always suspected he was not actually a "goldfish" as we know the basic feeder but instead a Shubunkin also referred do as the poor mans Koi. Sadly Goldy died after around 3 years when my young nephew, he was around 5 at the time, came over and knocked his full food container into Goldy's bowl. By some sick twist of fate I had not sealed the container properly the food all spilled out, and poor old Goldy literally ate himself to death. -.-
I got my next fish, after a lot of begging. She was a silvery-blue female Betta. I named her Samoan. She lived with me until I was 15. That was an almost 4 year old fish. She lived in the 'classic' betta habitat of a simple vase with some pretty rocks and a plant. Looking back I'm surprised she lived that long, its a terrible place to keep a betta. The poor fish is swimming in its own waist and there is no way you have enough room in one to actually keep the poor dear happy and healthy.
After her death, I got a 2nd betta Maxwell. He was just a generic blue. He developed seem sort of swim bladder problem and ended up dieing one night the 2nd year we had him. At 17 I developed a fascination for "Live bearing" fish. If you don't know what these are they are fish that give birth to live young, hence the name. Popular fish such as mollies and platies fall into this category. I had about 5 of them 2 males 3 females, they had a pretty nice setup a 20 gallon tank half sand half gravel substrate. I had a fascination for coral reefs at the time so all of my ceramics inside looked like coral. I was always pretty proud of that tank. I had them until I went to collage, Though the tank was very large, i never got a chance to really see the babies, the parents and other fish were sadly very good at hunting them down and eating them. -.-
When I got into collage, My fascination with fish was in full swing. I had an apartment to myself and I took up actually breeding fish for a profit. I bred 3 betta pairs. about 20 mollies and 10 platies and sold their babies to the local fish shops. It was good money I wasn't complaining. I'd get about 40 to 50 bucks per a batch of babies per a pair. Now I've been scolded about this, I've been told that "They weren't your pets you just used them, You looked at them and saw dollar signs not something to love and care for." You see, this is wrong. would you tell a dog or cat breeder that their pet is nothing more than a money maker to them? If you would then you are pretty close minded.
You dont know how many sleepless nights I'd stay up with my mollies in labor just to make sure that they were ok. How long I cried the night one of my little "dalmatian" girls died because she was young and the stress of her first birth was too much. No they were my pets, I loved each of them and I took good care of them, I made sure the babies I sold were good quality so that the fish lovers that eventually got them would have a good stock.
Eventually I didn't have the time to devote to the breeding of my mollies. It had been a few years my original stock was growing old so I stopped actively breeding them and just let them live out their lives in my tank. Now don't think that all the fish I had were breeders at that time. I also had a 45 gallon tank stocked with an array of Tropical fish. I had 4 Angel fish, Neons, 2 Plecos, (one albino, one regular), 2 bala sharks, 2 iridescent sharks, A shubunkin, and 2 loaches. My breeding stock also ended up in this tank as well as any babies I wanted to keep for myself.
As time went on I found myself wanting to get Piranhas. this never happened, I suppose its for the best lol I just wanted them because they were cool looking. Instead I found myself with not one but 2 baby oscars. Now I did a bad thing getting these 2 I had done no research and got them merely because "They looked cute" little did i know these little 2 inch long cuties would eventually become the 18 inch long behemoths I had until recently. Yeah lads and lasses, do your research, that cute little fishy you see at the pet store could become a huge fish one day. their names were Big boss and Big mamma. One was a black tiger, the other was albino. They were so hard to take care of, water changes are a beast when your fish is almost as big as you are across. Not to mention the fact that they lived in a 125 gallon tank I picked up from the local tropics shop for about 100 bucks because they were retiring it.
Now I've said before that I used to breed fish, well My oscars just happened to be male and female. So as the course of nature goes they had babies. And they ate their babies. Aside from the 2 little guys i was lucky enough to grab the next morning. I kept these 2 till they were around 6 inches long then gave them to my friends.
Sadly, Boss and mamma passed away about half a year ago. Mama Contracted Cancer and had a tumor growing on the side of her head so bad that I got her put down instead of watching her suffer. And Boss was never right after she passed, he stopped eating and moving really and just kind of faded away.
they experience with those 2 was so gut wrenching in the end. Their bond was so strong they were a mated pair that I mean I'll probably never be able to own big fish like that again.
right now i own a single male betta. I used to have 2 they lived in a split 5 gallon tank on my desk. Meow & Dandy. Dandy was this big green crown tail, the looked a lot like another one of my bettas N. Who got half eaten by a my roommates frog when he got out. Meow Is this big red-purple brute who hates everything. Dandy passed one night about a month ago. Meow is still living he like biting at my rats when they pass by his tank lol.
So that's.. most, of my fish story. I can answer most questions about fish, I know so much since i was once a breeder lol.
I've owned fish since i Was about 8. Started like any other budding aquarist, with a simple goldfish with the classic name "Goldy" Now Goldy was a very large fish, so much that i always suspected he was not actually a "goldfish" as we know the basic feeder but instead a Shubunkin also referred do as the poor mans Koi. Sadly Goldy died after around 3 years when my young nephew, he was around 5 at the time, came over and knocked his full food container into Goldy's bowl. By some sick twist of fate I had not sealed the container properly the food all spilled out, and poor old Goldy literally ate himself to death. -.-
I got my next fish, after a lot of begging. She was a silvery-blue female Betta. I named her Samoan. She lived with me until I was 15. That was an almost 4 year old fish. She lived in the 'classic' betta habitat of a simple vase with some pretty rocks and a plant. Looking back I'm surprised she lived that long, its a terrible place to keep a betta. The poor fish is swimming in its own waist and there is no way you have enough room in one to actually keep the poor dear happy and healthy.
After her death, I got a 2nd betta Maxwell. He was just a generic blue. He developed seem sort of swim bladder problem and ended up dieing one night the 2nd year we had him. At 17 I developed a fascination for "Live bearing" fish. If you don't know what these are they are fish that give birth to live young, hence the name. Popular fish such as mollies and platies fall into this category. I had about 5 of them 2 males 3 females, they had a pretty nice setup a 20 gallon tank half sand half gravel substrate. I had a fascination for coral reefs at the time so all of my ceramics inside looked like coral. I was always pretty proud of that tank. I had them until I went to collage, Though the tank was very large, i never got a chance to really see the babies, the parents and other fish were sadly very good at hunting them down and eating them. -.-
When I got into collage, My fascination with fish was in full swing. I had an apartment to myself and I took up actually breeding fish for a profit. I bred 3 betta pairs. about 20 mollies and 10 platies and sold their babies to the local fish shops. It was good money I wasn't complaining. I'd get about 40 to 50 bucks per a batch of babies per a pair. Now I've been scolded about this, I've been told that "They weren't your pets you just used them, You looked at them and saw dollar signs not something to love and care for." You see, this is wrong. would you tell a dog or cat breeder that their pet is nothing more than a money maker to them? If you would then you are pretty close minded.
You dont know how many sleepless nights I'd stay up with my mollies in labor just to make sure that they were ok. How long I cried the night one of my little "dalmatian" girls died because she was young and the stress of her first birth was too much. No they were my pets, I loved each of them and I took good care of them, I made sure the babies I sold were good quality so that the fish lovers that eventually got them would have a good stock.
Eventually I didn't have the time to devote to the breeding of my mollies. It had been a few years my original stock was growing old so I stopped actively breeding them and just let them live out their lives in my tank. Now don't think that all the fish I had were breeders at that time. I also had a 45 gallon tank stocked with an array of Tropical fish. I had 4 Angel fish, Neons, 2 Plecos, (one albino, one regular), 2 bala sharks, 2 iridescent sharks, A shubunkin, and 2 loaches. My breeding stock also ended up in this tank as well as any babies I wanted to keep for myself.
As time went on I found myself wanting to get Piranhas. this never happened, I suppose its for the best lol I just wanted them because they were cool looking. Instead I found myself with not one but 2 baby oscars. Now I did a bad thing getting these 2 I had done no research and got them merely because "They looked cute" little did i know these little 2 inch long cuties would eventually become the 18 inch long behemoths I had until recently. Yeah lads and lasses, do your research, that cute little fishy you see at the pet store could become a huge fish one day. their names were Big boss and Big mamma. One was a black tiger, the other was albino. They were so hard to take care of, water changes are a beast when your fish is almost as big as you are across. Not to mention the fact that they lived in a 125 gallon tank I picked up from the local tropics shop for about 100 bucks because they were retiring it.
Now I've said before that I used to breed fish, well My oscars just happened to be male and female. So as the course of nature goes they had babies. And they ate their babies. Aside from the 2 little guys i was lucky enough to grab the next morning. I kept these 2 till they were around 6 inches long then gave them to my friends.
Sadly, Boss and mamma passed away about half a year ago. Mama Contracted Cancer and had a tumor growing on the side of her head so bad that I got her put down instead of watching her suffer. And Boss was never right after she passed, he stopped eating and moving really and just kind of faded away.
they experience with those 2 was so gut wrenching in the end. Their bond was so strong they were a mated pair that I mean I'll probably never be able to own big fish like that again.
right now i own a single male betta. I used to have 2 they lived in a split 5 gallon tank on my desk. Meow & Dandy. Dandy was this big green crown tail, the looked a lot like another one of my bettas N. Who got half eaten by a my roommates frog when he got out. Meow Is this big red-purple brute who hates everything. Dandy passed one night about a month ago. Meow is still living he like biting at my rats when they pass by his tank lol.
So that's.. most, of my fish story. I can answer most questions about fish, I know so much since i was once a breeder lol.